You absolutely suggested that people should have everything figured out by 17. You said "hard work and thinking things through doesn't work for 100% of people who try it, but it does for 90....95% of them", which to me (considering the context of the response to the conversation) means that whoever is struggling through college or post-graduation has brought that on themselves. 17 is the age when a vast majority of college students make their decision with regards to their higher education. And that decision is dominated by the adults in those peoples' lives. If you read what I've put into this conversation so far, I've been critical of the expectation that the generation raised by that which operated on the concepts of overconsumption and debt-induced lifestyles is supposed to know better at an adolescent age. That's all. And that's who this person is talking about. People that are being blamed for their upbringing. Also, like I said, there is more than enough to be proud of by the people who have been able to support themselves and work harder than anyone to achieve something most take for granted. That doesn't mean they're better than those who had been raised to expect their education to be handed to them. Kids don't know better and shouldn't be the ones who are attacked and held fully responsible for being frivolous and careless with their education.
The ironic aspect of all of this talking down at me is my signature quotes. I firmly believe and actively pursue the perspective of those with powerful life experiences, and yet I'm ridiculed at every crossroads for being a part of the hopeless generation I was born into. It's disgusting to me how much responsibility for what's happening now is being thrust onto the people of my age and demographic. Especially when the criticism of policy enacted before our time is brought into the conversation. Somehow it still comes down to our young kind being showered with privilege and squandering it. We were ushered into this garbage society, we didn't create it. We may not know how to fix it and may be confused as to how we got here, but passing the buck off on the lazy youth by saying things like "you can keep telling yourself it doesn't [work], I'm sure it makes you feel better" is obnoxiously patronizing and spiteful.
It's hard to take "personal responsibility" seriously when the types of people who use that phrase on a constant basis generally don't practice it.
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